ForumSpeak

Talk like a geek with ForumSpeak

Are you an internet novice, hoping to be an internet geek? First you need to learn the lingo. Online forums are full of acronyms forumspeak. Learn what it means here:

• <aol>Me too</aol> - Pseudo-html making fun of AOL users' tendency to chime in with content-free agreement in Usenet discussions.
• AFAICT - As far as I can tell
• AFAIK - As far as I know
• AFK - Away from keyboard
• AHAGP - Anybody have any Grey Poupon?
• AIM - AOL Instant Messenger. An online chat tool.
• AOL - Almost online
• asbestos - a flame-retardant material; see flame.
• ATM - At the moment
• BBL - Be back later
• BBS - 1) Bulletin Board System
• BBS - 2) Be back soon
• BIL - Brother-in-law
• BILC - Because it looks cool
• board(s) - Short for bulletin board.
• BRB - Be right back
• BTL - Better than life
• BTW - By the way
• bulletin board - A program on a computer system or on the Internet where users can post messages to each other.
• bump - To make a meaningless comment in an important thread so that it will get pushed back to the top of the forum.
• CYA - See ya!
• DYPMTTUAYGA - Do you people make these things up as you go along?
• ETLA - Extended three-letter acronym
• FAQ - Frequently asked questions
• FIL - Father-in-law
• flame - (1) A heated argument, especially one that degrades into personal attacks rather than rational discussion of the subject matter.
• flame - (2) Anytime anyone dares to disagree with *me*
• FOAF - Friend of a friend
• forum(s) - (1) Another name for a bulletin board.
• forum(s) - (2) One of the discussion areas on a board.
• ftp - file transfer protocol
• FWIW - for what it's worth
• GAL - Get a life
• GD&R - Grinning, ducking & running
• GIGO - Garbage in, garbage out
• GSOH - Great sense of humor
• HTML - Hypertext Markup Language
• IANAL - I am not a lawyer
• ICQ - I Seek You. Online chat tool. Owned by AOL.
• IHNI - I have no idea
• IIRC - If I remember correctly
• IM(R)HO - In my (rarely) humble opinion
• IMHO - In my humble opinion
• IMNSHO - In my not so humble opinion
• IMO - In my opinion
• IOW - In other words
• IRC - Internet Relay Chat
• IRL - In real life
• ISTR - I seem to recall
• l8r - later
• LOL - Laugh out loud
• LOTH - Leaning over toilet, hurling
• LSHIGRBUMN - Laughing so hard I got root beer up my nose
• LSHIPIMP - Laughing so hard I peed in my pants
• LTNC - Long time no chat
• MCAS - My cornflakes are soggy
• MIL - Mother-in-law
• MPSIMS - Mundane pointless stuff I must share
• NATO - Not able to organize
• NDFTT - Do not feed the trolls
• newbie - Someone new to the forum.
• NIMBY - Not in my back yard
• OMG - Oh my goodness!
• OP - Original Post or Original Poster.
• OT - Off topic
• OTL - Out to lunch
• OTOH - On the other hand
• PBCK - Problem between chair and keyboard
• popcorn - When a flame war heats up, sometimes the only rational thing to do is to watch it like a bad movie. Be sure to bring lots of popcorn.
• post - (1) An individual message within a thread. The first post in a thread is called the OP (original post). The following posts are called replies.
• post - (2) The act of adding a post to a forum. You "post" your reply to the thread.
• ROFL - Roll on floor laughing
• ROFWL - Roll on floor with laughter
• S&D - Search and destroy
• SBD - Silent, but deadly (ninja fart)
• SIL - Sister-in-law
• smilies - These thingies:
• SOH - Sense of humor
• Spam - 1) Unsolicited email.
• Spam - 2) Flooding a bulletin board with irrelevant posts to increase your posting counts.
• Spam - 3) Flooding a website directory or search engine with multiple submissions of your website.
• SUFBAMT - Sneak up from behind and massively tape
• SWMBO - She who must be obeyed (wife)
• Thread - A discussion within a forum. It is composed of several messages or posts.
• TLA - Three-letter acronym
• TLA - Three-letter acronym
• TM - Teeming millions
• TTYA! - Thanks to you all!
• TTYL - Talk to you later
• TWFW - Too weird for words
• TWIAVBP - The world is a very big place
• UBB - Ultimate Bulletin Board
• UL - Urban legend
• WOMBAT - Waste of money, brains, and talent
• WYSITWIRL - What you see is totally worthless in real life
• WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get
• YAFIYGI - You asked for it, you got it
• YMMV - Your mileage may vary (meaning that things may be different in different circumstances)
• YOYO - You're on your own